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Show Noah's Log-Book. In a quarterly published in Oberlin, Ohio, Dr. S. E. Bishop supplies a paper which contends that the history of the flood as given in Genesis embodies em-bodies a literal transcript from an original form of record which the commander of the ark had made of the leading incidents of that first great voyage in that first ship. That is, Dr. Bishop contends that a part of Genesis is an actual copy of parts of Noah's log-book as written not less than four thousand years before Abraham's day. We are not going to criticise the accuracy of Dr. Bishop's conclusions. He may bo right. That was a great voyage, in a great ship, sure enough, for we make the ark (300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits) 16,500 tons burden, and with her three decks must have been a stunning looking craft. True, she was no grayhound of that ocean that was gotten up on Noah's special account. She J was built for freight mostly and probably carried 37 per cent, more than her registered tonnage. The log-book of such a craft on such a voyage ought certainly to be interesting, though it naturally natur-ally must have been a little like Dr. Hyatt's weather report last winter when that three weeks of fog settled upon this city. If we remember correctly, those reports were chiefly "cloudy and cold, with great excoss of humidity." Again, it is evident that Noah did not take the sun regularly for a double reason: First, there was not much sun in sight, .and, secondly, if there had been, he had no theodolite; and if ho had had one he would not have known how to use it. Then what did he do for a ship's bell? When did the sailors know when to go on watch? Then how interesting would have been some of the Incidents of that voyage. Did Mrs. Noah sit by the window and tell Noah that they were right over the Willamette valley and that it never would stop raining until he steered the craft up the Columbia and got into the neighborhood of Baker City or Walla Walla? Then did they have aboard canned apricots and Irish potatoes to stand off scurvy? And did they depend upon the cow or the goat, or had they condensed milk for the baby? What kind of a range was the cooking done on? Wore there any lights in the fo'castle? Were the decks regularly washed and the masts scraped? Had they steel hausers or did they depend de-pend upon Missouri or Manila hemp for ropes? When the craft grounded, was any report made to the admiralty? If the account in Genesis is genuine, it is clear that it is meagre. Is it possible that Noah, even then, had become addicted to the habit that later, on one occasion at least, caused him to become oblivious to his surroundings? There ought to be somewhere a paragraph describing de-scribing the utter loneliness of that voyage.. Never a sail in sight. Never a sun-kissed island. No far-off mountain turning to purple under the sunbeams. Nothing but the lowering clouds and the sullen wash of waves. We do not wonder that Noah took to drink. |